Operations of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with many images of the territory that it serves. With excellent footage of snow management and removal operations in the Sierra Nevada mountains.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Unknown
Sponsor: Southern Pacific Railroad
Audio/Visual: Sd, C
Keywords: Transportation: Railroad; U.S.: West; California: History and culture

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Spuzz - - July 12, 2005
Subject: Im going to wash that train right out of my hair..
I think this is the definite train documentary on this site. This film contains EVERYTHING you need to know about trains, the people that work on them, and why Southern Pacific is The Greatest Company On Earth. Filmed in glorious color, this was a fun, if not overlong, train hagathon. The best parts were all about how they got rid of the snow off the tracks, how the switchman works (he doesnt have lip cancer though) and the conversion of wood containers into metal ones (though the wood ones looked kind of nice). Again, this runs for half an hour, so if youre into trains, this is well worth a look.

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - April 26, 2003
Subject: Southern Pacific
This film is shot in the late 1940s or maybe early 1950s, just as railroads were transitioning to the diesel era and more modern rail controls. The audience for this film is hard to determine; possibly as an introduction film for new employees, maybe something to show to investors, maybe a little of both.

But the film gives an excellent overview of the various jobs in the period railroad and some wonderful cinemotography, serving almost as a travelogue for the Southwest and West.

There is an interesting subtext of how we, as a country, are free to travel and exchange goods, a subtle reference to the building Cold War. There are also numerous assurances that despite the increase in technology used by the railroad, that the job is still labour intensive.

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